Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Friday, July 16, 2021 - 100% Garganega from the very old Salvarenza Cru, where the vines are over 100 yo and the oldest third of the vines are still ungrafted. Fermented in large oak casks and 228-liter French oak pièces. No SO2 added during the vinification process. Aged for 12 months on the lees in large oak casks and 228-liter pièces. 13% alcohol. Tasted blind.

Intense and moderately deep neon yellow-green color. Ripe, sweet-toned and somewhat waxy nose with quite concentrated aromas of cantaloupe, chopped almonds, some honeyed tones, a little bit of marzipan, light creamy notes of oak, a sweet, candied hint of gummi bears and a touch of ripe apricot. Although the wine is technically dry, it feels noticeably ripe, sweet-toned and slightly viscous on the palate with a full body and rich flavors of honeydew melon and honeyed sweetness, some peach, light notes of exotic spice, a little bit of chopped almonds, oaky hints of creaminess and savory woody spice and a touch of fresh red apples. The wine seems to be quite high in dry extract, but it retains good sense of balance, thanks to the moderately high acidity. The finish is big, juicy and very long with noticeably ripe flavors of honey and cantaloupe, chopped almonds, some creamy oak notes, a little bit of dry, woody oak spice, light crunchy notes of fresh and spicy red apple and a hint of almost overripe apricot.

A very substantial, concentrated and impressive Soave Classico. At first I was baffled away by the wine's size and power, but it didn't take me long to realize that despite its size, many of the aromatics seemed to point towards Italy. My first guess was a Verdicchio from Marche, based on the notes of almond, apple and cantaloupe. After I was told my guess was incorrect, I was still convinced that the wine must be from somewhere nearby, so I went with Soave Classico. Bingo! Not particularly typical for the appellation, though - this is a very big and ripe wine, which is probably only exacerbated by the warm 2015 vintage. I guess I'd enjoy the wine more if it were from a cooler vintage. Nevertheless, a big, eminently impressive and remarkably balanced single-vineyard Garganega from one of the masters of Soave Classico. Not particularly affordable here at 39,84€, but manages to deliver for the price, at least to some degree. Probably will continue to improve from here, at least for a handful of years. Nice!

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